health updates

Celine Dion Shares Rare Diagnosis, Postpones Tour

Celine Dion. Photo: Simone Joyner/Getty Images

Celine Dion has opened up about the heath issues that delayed her upcoming tour. The singer has stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that affects around one in a million people, she said in an emotional video on Instagram. The disorder, which has no cure, has been causing the muscle spasms she has previously said made performing difficult. “Unfortunately, the spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to,” she explained in the video. Dion is working with a team of doctors including a sports medicine therapist to eventually be ready for her Courage tour, she added. “For me to reach you again, I have no choice but to concentrate on my health at this moment and I have hope that I’m on the road to recovery,” Dion said. “This is my focus and I’m doing everything that I can to recuperate.”

Dion’s Courage tour has been delayed multiple times, first due to the COVID-19 pandemic and later to the performer’s unspecified health issues. The world tour, which began in 2019, was first set to recommence in September 2020; she later canceled her American shows in January 2022, and last rescheduled her European shows in April, both times citing her muscle spasms. Now, she is pushing her European leg of the tour to 2024, after it was planned to start in February. “I miss you so much,” Dion said. “I miss seeing all of you, being on the stage, performing for you. I always give 100 percent when I do my shows, but my condition is not allowing me to give you that right now.”

Celine Dion Shares Rare Diagnosis, Postpones Tour